$4.2M paving project nears end

RUSSELLVILLE — The final phase of a $4.2 million paving project funded through a Rebuild Alabama grant is nearing completion, marking the end of a larger citywide effort that resurfaced 42% of the city’s streets.

The final phase involved:

• Summit Street from Waterloo Road to Wilson Boulevard;

• Underwood Road from Jackson Avenue North to U.S. 43;

• Washington Avenue South from Robinson Street to U.S. 43;

• Hester Line Road from U.S. 43 to Alabama 63. Summit Street, Underwood Road, Washington Avenue South and Hester Line Road, according to information provided by City Clerk Belinda Miller.

The city received a $350,000 Rebuild Alabama grant for this phase of work with a $100,000 local match. The winning bid of $415,381.60 was awarded to Vulcan Materials Co. with remaining funds reserved for potential cost adjustments during construction.

Councilman David Palmer, a former Franklin County engineer, said the $4.2 million project has been ongoing for the past 18 months.

“That project covered 42 miles of city streets,” Palmer said. “We’ve got just over 100 miles total, so that was about 42% of the system.”

He said the effort began with the purchase of paving equipment and included both contract work and paving completed by city crews.

Of the 42 miles, about eight miles were completed by contractors, and the remaining 34 miles were completed by city workers, he said. Palmer said the scale of the work is not typical for a city of Russellville’s size and is not something that happens often. Palmer said the mayor and council are still evaluating how much annual funding they can for future road maintenance.

“We’re going to look and see how much we can set aside annually to continue to pave,” he said. “You have to understand, the maintenance and upkeep of that system never ends.”

Palmer said the city used micro surfacing for the first time on this project as part of a regional pilot effort supported through the grant program. It typically costs less than traditional paving and can extend pavement life by 10 years or more.

Micro surfacing can only be used on roads that are still structurally sound. The process applies a thin layer over the current surface rather than the traditional “mill and fill” approach, which removes about 1½ to 2 inches of asphalt and replaces it with new material.